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Hasidic cult suspected of prostituting women ‘to save Israel’

September 7, 2014

Judea and Samaria District police arrested four people on Sunday suspected of leading a cult under which they used women as prostitutes and took sexual advantage of them under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

The suspects allegedly told the women they had to have sex with non-Jewish men "to save the people of Israel and bring redemption nearer."

The police launched an undercover investigation four months ago after a complaint was filed against the cult for exploiting female recruits. Police say they discovered the cult operated all over Israel and induced women into believing that redemption for the Jewish people would arrive through so-called "sparks," meaning having sex with non-Jews.

The four suspects include two Kiryat Arba residents, a 60-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman, a 47-year-old Ashkelon resident, abd a 39-year-old woman from Jerusalem. The cult leaders allegedly charged non-Jewish men money to have sex with the women and tried "to make the girls newly religious" through their sexual relations with the non-Jewish men.

The cult leaders made the women dependent on them by supplying them with drugs and alcohol and forcing them to have sex under the influence of these substances.

A spokesperson for the Kiryat Arba-Hebron Council commented that "the family is known the social services in the local authority, but the level of cooperation between the sides is negligible, and completely rejected by the family." The spokesperson explained that social services representatives investigated the couple over six months ago regarding certain allegations after confirming the rumors, and they strongly denied any wrongdoing.

"Despite this, the social services department handed over the matter to the Israel Police," stated the spokesperson. "The Judea and Samaria District Police conducted an investigation into the matter and the couple was arrested this morning. Care for the couple’s children is the responsibility of the social services department."

"If the suspicions turn out to be true, then I call on the authorities to use the full weight of the law," said Malachi Levinger, the head of the council. "We as a civilized society will not tolerate these or similar kinds of offenses."

Four years ago, the cult of Goel Ratzon, who lived with 17 wives and 38 children, was revealed. He was charged with dozens of sex offenses, including rape, sodomy and indecent assault. The Tel Aviv District Court is to render a ruling in Ratzon’s case this week.